Mike Thrift
Marketing Manager
The Swipe Fee Lawsuit That Could Backfire on Merchants: Corner Post, Regulation II, and What Small Businesses Should Do Now
A North Dakota truck stop sued to lower debit card swipe fees — and in August 2025 a federal court vacated Regulation II's 21-cent interchange cap entirely. Here's how the Corner Post case reached the Eighth Circuit, the three ways it could end, and how small businesses can prepare for fees moving in either direction.
eBay's 2026 Fee Overhaul: Flat Rates, a 5% Refurbished Discount, and the Math Resellers Should Run
On July 1, 2026, eBay replaced tiered final value fees with flat category rates for commercial sellers on its European marketplaces — roughly 7–14% on new goods and a flat 5% on used and refurbished items. Depending on price band, the change can cut or raise your fees, so here's a 90-day audit to run against your own sales data.
The $15 Million Estate Tax Exemption: What OBBBA Means for Business Succession Planning
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act permanently raised the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $15 million per person ($30 million per couple) starting in 2026, eliminating the scheduled TCJA sunset to roughly $7 million. Here's what changed, which existing plans are now outdated, and the succession moves business owners should make — from portability filings to buy-sell agreement reviews and state estate tax exposure.
Expensify's MCP Server: What Connecting an AI Assistant to Your Books Actually Means
Expensify launched an MCP server on June 8, 2026, letting Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor query live expense data via OAuth 2.1. Here is what Model Context Protocol means for small business books, which access questions to check before connecting — read-only vs. write, revocability, data retention — and why clean records matter more in the AI era.
Ireland's Self-Employed Tax Guide for 2026: Form 11, Preliminary Tax, and the PRSI Rate Rise
Irish sole traders filing Form 11 in 2026 face a mid-year PRSI Class S rise from 4.2% to 4.35% on October 1, a €650 minimum PRSI charge, and the preliminary tax rule requiring 100% of prior-year or 90% of current-year liability by October 31 — with a ROS extension to mid-November for those who file and pay online.
Med Spa Bookkeeping: How to Handle Injectable Inventory, Injector Commissions, and Membership Revenue
A practical bookkeeping guide for med spa owners covering the industry's hardest problems — tracking expiring injectable inventory with FIFO and treatment recipes, calculating 15–25% injector commissions from provider-level revenue, deferring membership and package revenue until services are delivered, and building a chart of accounts that shows which service lines actually carry margin.
Mobile Pet Grooming Bookkeeping: Van Depreciation, Per-Appointment Costing, and the Fuel Line Owners Underbudget
How mobile pet groomers should book a $35,000–$80,000 grooming van — splitting chassis from buildout for depreciation and Section 179, building a five-component per-appointment cost model, and budgeting fuel and maintenance against the 76-cent 2026 IRS mileage rate.
Newfoundland and Labrador Is Cutting Its Small Business Tax Rate to 1% — What the Phased Cut Means for Your Corporation
Newfoundland and Labrador's April 2026 budget phases its small business corporate tax rate from 2.5% to 1.0% by 2028, retroactive to January 1, 2026 — dropping the combined federal-provincial rate from 11.5% to 10.0%. Here's the year-by-year math, the dollar savings at the $500,000 limit, and the planning moves worth reviewing.
Nuvei Is Buying Payoneer for $2.75 Billion: What It Means for Freelancers Paid Across Borders
Nuvei is acquiring Payoneer for $7.40 per share — about $2.75 billion — with closing expected by mid-2027. Here's what the deal means for freelancers and small exporters in 190+ countries who rely on Payoneer payouts, and four bookkeeping steps to track fees, FX spreads, and platform risk through the transition.
Pay Transparency Laws Reach 20 Jurisdictions in 2026: A Remote Hiring Compliance Guide
Virginia's pay transparency law took effect July 1, 2026, and Maine's LD 54 follows on July 29, bringing active U.S. pay transparency jurisdictions to 20. Because the rules attach to where a remote candidate could work — not where your company is headquartered — a remote posting without a good-faith salary range can violate laws in states where you have no office. Here's what changed, why remote postings trigger multi-state obligations, and a practical compliance checklist.
A Payroll Company Stole $20 Million in Withheld Taxes. The IRS Still Came After the Clients.
Elite Payroll's owner kept $22 million in client payroll taxes over eight years — and the IRS can still hold the defrauded clients personally liable via the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (IRC §6672). How the TFRP works, why an LLC won't shield you, and four concrete ways to verify your payroll provider is actually remitting, including independent EFTPS enrollment and quarterly Form 941 reconciliation.
Pool Cleaning Route Bookkeeping: Chemical Costs, Revenue Per Stop, and Seasonal Cash Flow
A bookkeeping guide for pool cleaning route businesses covering how to separate chemical costs from labor, calculate revenue per stop, segment revenue by service line, and forecast cash flow through algae season and the winter slowdown.